The show will follow Pilkington as he completes a 'Bucket List' compiled by Gervais and Merchant. Among the activities he is expected to try are swimming with dolphins, staying on a desert island and travelling along Route 66.

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Pilkington will choose which challenges to complete, but Gervais and Merchant are expected to add some surprises along the way.

"What else am I going to do?" Pilkington said. "When you've been in a programme called An Idiot Abroad, other job offers aren't going to be flying in, are they? At least Wagner off X Factor could go back to Brazil... Because An Idiot Abroad has been on all over the world, I can't escape being known as the 'idiot'. Ricky did that."